


Gem 'n I

by HauntedAutomaton



Series: Mr. Universe and the Crystal Gems: Reunion Tour [4]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Gen, OC Agate, OC Peridots, Sisters, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 15:09:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10766796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HauntedAutomaton/pseuds/HauntedAutomaton
Summary: Peridot 5XT, a kindergarten technician, tries to do what she can for the gems she helps create, but she can only do so much.





	Gem 'n I

 

          Drill.

          Inject.

          Adjust.

          Drill.

          Inject.

          Adjust.

          Drill the insertion seam.

          Inject the gem seed.

          Adjust the drill position.

          Saying that this aspect of the work was mindless would imply some kind of void. Some space where this work could have a mind. But Peridot, Facet 2F5L, Cut 5XT, was certain that there was no possibility that these particular tasks could ever warrant actual conscious effort. And yet, here she was.

          Drill.

          Inject.

          Adjust.

          These ancient insertors were manual, and therefore incompatible with any robonoids. If she still had her workshop, 5XT thought, she might be able to fix that. But no, no workshop for veteran kindergartener 2F5L 5XT. Not ever since those surprise tests a few weeks ago. All of a sudden, all the Peridots in the Yellow Court had to undergo “remedial evaluations,” and just like that, her entire facet got demoted. From what she heard, some Peridot from her facet, a 5 no less, was sent to an old defunct colony, and somehow messed up big time.

          Drill.

          Inject.

          Adjust.

          Although, 5XT supposed she should be at least a little grateful. She heard stories of others in her cut being harvested. Maybe she wasn't here despite her flawless work record, but because of it. Or maybe those tales of harvesting gems were exaggerated, and Yellow Diamond really wouldn't destroy one gem for the actions of another. 5XT actually smirked at this thought. Yeah, sure, more like we can't spare the resources. Which would explain why command was trying to squeeze some gems out of this lifeless stone.

          Drill.

          Inject.

          “PERIDOT!”

          A few weak voices responded back from around the facility, “Yes, your Brilliance?”

          “Cut 5XT!”

          5XT shuddered and repeated, “Yes, your Brillia-”

          Grey Agate snatched up 5XT by the point of her hair, and forced the Peridot to look at her.

          “Why is this vein not finished yet? What are the projected emergence rates? How are you expecting to meet our quotas?”

          5XT learned a while ago that when Grey Agate asks you a bunch of questions, just answer the middle one.

          “In this environment, with these low mineral rates, I would estimate...thir...uh...forty percent?”

          “Make it fifty, and get it done! We need these gems to make quota! I don't care if you have to pile them on top of each other, just get it done!”

          5XT wanted to tell her about the insanity of even setting up a kindergarten here. She wanted to yell at her about the waste of all of these gem seeds, who would have to fight just to emerge. She wanted to scream at her about the fact that over half of them wouldn't even survive that long. But she didn't. She went back to the drill, to do her job. To give these gems the best chance they could possibly have. 5XT scratched the triangular gem at her hip, and tried not to think about the fact that this was a row of Peridots, like her. But it was hard not to think about things like that, when there wasn't anything else to think about.

          Inject.

          Adjust.

          Drill.

          Inject.

          Adjust...

 

* * *

 

          36%

          With a standard deviation of just 2 points.

          There was no way 40%, let alone fifty, would be possible.

          And things were getting worse. The formation time of these gems was being pushed up. Again. After the last round of growth stimulation shocks, 5XT wasn't sure she could even save a fifth of them. But these were Peridots. Tougher than they look.

          When the first line finished emerging, the head kindergartener called for inspections. Each Peridot she passed was quizzed, drilled, and given a physical scan. 5XT was good at this part, and even Grey Agate walking beside her with a destabilizer in hand wasn't rushing her. All-in-all, there were only a couple “rejects,” but the bar wasn't exactly high these days. Still, 5XT found herself being prouder of these feeble Peridots, who could barely carry their limb enhancers onto the ship, than she did of any line of Quartzes she helped create. Of those who did emerge unfit for duty, it was almost a kindness what Grey Agate would do. Dissipated and bubbled, the defective gems were no longer in pain, at least.

          As 5XT was about to end the inspection, and sign off on the new recruits, she picked something up on one of her passive motion scanners.

          “Your Brilliance, one last emergence for this line.”

          “Ah, good, your failure has become ever so slightly less miserable.”

          5XT had already started striding over to the emergence site.

          “Facet 1M8A-D, Cut 2XN...O...P,” she counted between the clanks of her augmented steps, “Q...R...ah, Cut 2XS, here we go.”

          A soft, pale glow began to form in the center of the injection site. So far so good. No internal micro-fractures, minimal subsurface shearing, and movement was looking good. Very good, in fact.

          “Give her a jolt, we don't have all century,” snapped Grey Agate.

          “Applying a growth stim now could undo all the work she's done making the form she has!” Peridot 5XT shot back

          She expected a sharp jolt of pain from the destabilizer for her back-talk, but instead, the Agate only began to leer, as a slow smirk spread across her face.

          “You'll regret that tone, later.”

          Whelp, I'm gravel, 5XT thought, but she didn't have long to dwell on the problem. The emergence glow began to spread all across a bipedal silhouette. There seemed to be only one visible problem, however. This emergence hole was going to be about twice the size of any Peridot that 5XT had ever seen. Including ones not made on barren wasteland asteroids.

          Both of the gems standing in front of the injection site began to instinctively step back, as the new Peridot erupted through the soft surface. She stood, and looked eye-to-eye with 5XT, despite wearing no enhancers. Her uniform was odd as well, having a pair of diamonds near the midriff rather than one. And her hair was blunted near the top, a little like a Quartz's crash helmet. Other than that, however, she was, unmistakably, a Peridot. Albeit, a rather large one.

          5XT could do little else but fall back onto her script.

          “Uh...welcome...uh, Peridot, Facet 1M8A-D, Cut 2XS, to the service of the Yellow Court. Remain stationary for a diagnostic scan.”

          5XT's fingers from her right arm formed a rectangle above 2XS's head, and slowly moved down around her body, while fingers from her left arm formed a screen. As the scan started, Grey Agate spoke up.

          “Why are you conducting this scan? She's clearly defective.”

          “Wha-what? What in the stars do you mean?” 5XT managed to sputter, as being appalled and performing a primary gemetic scan simultaneously was proving to be difficult.

          “She's too big. She'll never fit into the enhancers, or any other proper uniform for that matter.”

          “So what, she's too big, so she's worthless?!” 5XT was faintly aware of a red error marker blinking on her diagnostic panel.

          “Yes,” replied the Agate, “and it seems like your screen agrees with me.”

          5XT's head snapped back to her screen, and what color there was visible in this pale light, drained immediately. The kindergartener looked to the new arrivals left shoulder, and saw a green, angular gem. She then drew her vision slowly across 2XS's collar, to the gem's mirror on the other side.

          Two gems.

          A fusion.

          What happened?

          “So, as you can see,” Grey Agate began, “there is no way this Court is going to waste two gems on this monstrosity. They'll be harvested, and, in that way, attain some level of utility and dignity.”

          “No.”

          “...Excuse me?”

          “No,” 5XT repeated, softly, “I won't do it.”

          “Of course not, dear,” said Agate, almost sounding, if one didn't know better, motherly. As she spoke, she holstered the destabilizer, and drew, from the banded grey gem in her back, an electrified mace.

          “I will.”

 

* * *

 

          While the Agate and the enhanced Peridot were arguing, 2XS's slight movements went unnoticed. Neither of the other two gems saw when she stepped slightly back, within reach of her exit hole. They also didn't see her eyeing the patch of frictional rock melt near it's entrance. So when Grey Agate drew her weapon, what came next was a surprise to both of them.

          Before the commanding gem could even turn to brandish her weapon, 2XS had taken a half-step back and elbowed the side wall of her emergence hole, shattering the patch of glass she had been watching. The Agate almost had enough presence of mind to be concerned, before a shard of friction-melted glass was driven into her chest by 2XS's palm. The mace dissipated before it hit the ground.

          5XT watched as the grey gem slowly fell to the dusty ground, and impacted the dull sand. After the particles settled, she turned her eyes over to 2XS, and met her gaze for the first time. The fusion's eyes were different. 5XT didn't know how she missed that one, but they had vivid green irises, giving the new gem an intense and powerful stare. After a heavy moment passed, 5XT managed to speak.

          “How...did you survive?”

          2XS angled her head slightly, and stepped a little forward, away from the hole.

          “I protected her.”

          5XT's eyes began to burn. “Each of you had less that half the resources you should have had...I...” she faltered as the tears began. “It's my fault. I know it is, I don't know how two gems ended up in the same injection site but-”

          Her apology was muffled by 2XS pulling her into a deep embrace.

          “Then thank you,” the fusion began, “I would not have her without you.”

          “It must have been agony when the iron ran low,” continued 5XT, crying over 2XS's shoulder.

          “I protected her.”

          “And there cannot have been enough oxygen for proper bonding, how did you manage-”

          “I protected her.”

          “...You protected her?”

          “It was difficult, and I suffered, but now I have her, and she has me, and it was worth every moment.”

          5XT pulled back from the grasp, and touched a few cylindrical fingers to each gem on 2XS's shoulders.

          “You have each other,” said 5XT after a moment of contemplation.

          “Yes,” said 2XS with a soft smile, but her expression quickly hardened. “I can't stay, can I? It wouldn't be safe for her.”

          “No,” 5XT answered, grasping the new fusion by the shoulders, “but I think I can help you. First, however...” she knelt down and extracted the Banded Grey Agate from the dust, and took a few steps back. With a long stride and an augmented arm, 5XT sent the gem hurling well out of orbit of the asteroid, and into the void. “Wanted to do that for a while,” said 5XT. 2XS nodded in agreement.

          The kindergartener lead the fusion over to a robonoid port, and called up a plug robonoid.

          “I'm going to have to make a few modifications, but once this pod gets a jump-start from the warp beam, you should be well on your way. I know the coordinates to an old colony one of my...eh...colleagues went to. I haven't heard anything about her since, so I presume she's either still there, or Yellow Diamond sent a Jet after her or something.” All the while she was talking, 5XT was making quick work of modifying the plug robonoid with her enhancers, and eventually emptied out the robot's supply of matrix repair fluid. “It's gonna be a tight fit, newbie, so try to get comfy. If you wouldn't rather unfuse, that is.”

          2XS raised an eyebrow at this suggestion.

          “I had a feeling you'd say that. Well, either way, the pod's ready. You remember your lattice-woven training on piloting, right?”

          The fusion nodded.

          “Good, and one last thing.” 5XT pressed a button on the side of her left thigh, and the limb enhancers came tumbling off. 2XS couldn't help but step back slightly, but quickly reached out to help the now small Peridot up from the dusty surface. “Yeah, you're gonna want to take these. Sorry if some of the calibrations are a little out of date, and make sure you do me a favor and clear all the search histories.”

          2XS knelt down, eye level to the veteran kindergartener. “What about you, can't you come with me?”

          “Maybe someday,” she replied, taking off her visor, “but for now, someone has to take your place in line.” She turned the visor over in her hands, and pressed it onto 2XS's face.

          The two hugged again, just a deeply as before.

          “I'm sorry,” said older Peridot.

          “Thank you,” said the younger.

          They broke apart, and 2XS climbed inside the half-open robonoid, carrying an armload of limb enhancers. 5XT tossed the remaining fingers into the pod, and looked up at the now towering Peridot.

          “Take care of each other.”

          “I will.”

          The pod sealed itself up, and began to crawl towards the warp pad. As the craft climbed atop the dais, 2XS could just make out through the tinted screen, the silhouette of a small Peridot running up into the back entrance of a deployment ship, taking her place alongside all the other recruits. And then light enveloped the view.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Peridot 2XS is a fusion of two gem seeds that were implanted together. The only way they could survive, was to fuse. In this way, they became somewhat like conjoined twins. When 2XS says "I will protect her," it can be thought of as each of her components (left and right shoulder) saying the same thing. One can essentially imagine that any time 2XS refers to this mysterious "her," she is referring to herself in the third person in a way. You can also think of it as though whatever 2XS says, both of her components are saying together. This leads to some interesting pronoun usage, that I can't wait to experiment more with.


End file.
